Showing posts with label sausage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sausage. Show all posts

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

The Cajun cuisine attempts continue..... This was less intimidating that the gumbo for sure but it was still something I wasn't sure if I could pull off. It worked though!!! With delicious results. My sister-in-law and my hubs are both super spice freaks ( I am not ) and added Tabasco and more crushed red pepper at the table.


You can easily make this with shrimp as well and there are instructions for that in the original recipe from Cooking Light. My hubs does not like seafood and that is why none of my dishes contain any! I will need to change that though... The link is under the name of the recipe as per usual! I doubled the recipe because I wanted a lot of leftovers and there certainly was plenty! It also reheats marvelously and would be an easy dish to make ahead of time if you are having company. One thing I really liked about this is there is no need for a side dish to go with it. This is also a man approved dish!!


I changed it up again as per usual and added more vegetables because I love me some veggie deliciousness. I also followed the advice of many reviewers on the original recipe and cooked the rice before I added it to the jambalaya. I cooked it significantly longer than the recipe recommended as well. I wanted the flavors to have time to really blend together and, in my opinion, it helped the rice to soak up the juices and become your typical jambalaya texture. 


Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Cooking Light
Printable Version



Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 teaspoons Tony Chacheres or salt and pepper
  • 2 cups chopped smoked sausage
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 2 cups chopped green bell pepper
  • 2 cups chopped celery
  • garlic clove, minced
  • 2 cups uncooked rice (I used boil in a bag brown rice from Kroger)
  • 5 cups fat-free chicken broth
  • 4 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • Tabasco sauce

Preparation:


  • 1. Cook rice to your liking and set aside. I undercooked it a little bit so it would finish up in the broth.

  • 2. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with Tony's or salt and black pepper. Brown the chicken for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and remove from the dutch oven and set aside. Then in the same dutch oven brown the sausage for about five minutes.

3. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cover and reduce heat to medium and cook until vegetables are tender. About ten minutes. 


4. Add broth, paprika, thyme, red pepper, tomatoes and chicken. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 30 minutes, skimming the fat off the top as it rises. Towards the end of these 30 minutes is a good time to start seasoning it to your taste with Tony Chachere's, salt and pepper, and Tabasco.

5. Add the rice and simmer for another 15 minutes. Just keep an eye on it and when it starts to look like it's thickened up. 


6. Before serving stir in green onions and keep a few on the side to garnish each dish! I put hot sauce on the table for my beloved little heat seekers.


  • Enjoy!
ME

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Tomato, Basil and Sausage with Penne Pasta

I served this for a dinner party and it was a complete success!! You could do this with any kind of sausage you like but I chose to use turkey sausage for this time around. It is an easy sauce that made my entire house smell deelish!


The recipe on here is based on a Cooking Light recipe I found. I changed it a little bit to make it a little more saucy. One of my favorite things to do is find sauces in the jar and doctor them up a bit! I cooked for six people and everything was gone!


To go with this pasta and sauce I served a salad with mixed greens, bell pepper, sunburst tomatoes, green onion and croutons with balsamic vinaigrette. I also served it with warm italian bread with margarine and garlic salt!


Tomato, Basil and Sausage with Penne Pasta
From Cooking Light
Printable Version




  • Ingredients:
  • 1 box uncooked penne
  • 1 pkg sweet Italian turkey sausage (about 6 large links)
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 medium vertically sliced onion
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 14.5 oz can of tomatoes
  • 1 cup of your favorite jarred tomato sauce ( I used Newman's Own Tomato Basil )
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions.


2. Remove sausage from casings. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add sausage to it. Cook for about 4 minutes stirring to crumble the sausage. Then add onion, can of tomatoes, and garlic for about 4 minutes.










3. Add 1 cup of your favorite jarred tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes and red pepper. Stir it all together and let it simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. If you want.. a splash of wine or beer will help to blend the flavors. If it reduces by too much add about a quarter cup of pasta water!
















4. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat, stir in fresh basil and serve over pasta!




Enjoy!!




I forgot to take a picture of the fixed plates so I took a picture of the aftermath! I do believe this is success  :)